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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29878203">a bit of a happy ending</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_bf/pseuds/ora_bf'>ora_bf (sunshine_bf)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>stay by my side [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>League of Legends</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Odyssey, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Odyssey AU, he also says lesbians get behind me, i do what i want have fun, kayn has an unnamed cat sorry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:47:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,442</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29878203</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_bf/pseuds/ora_bf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cosmic Kayn comes home to what he left behind five years prior.</p><p>Central around Kayn/Jarvan but we'll have followup too :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Shieda Kayn/Jarvan Lightshield IV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>stay by my side [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2196756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Jarvan.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/theburninghollytree/gifts">theburninghollytree</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/notkai/gifts">notkai</a>.</li>



    </ul><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>First, he's got a hot crybaby date with his husband.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Five years. Five years away from the life he loved and cherished. Five years and who knew how much had changed. Kayn was floating through the walls of the Armada, seeking out the one who consumed his mind. One of few Kayn had ever cared about their opinion of his doings. The tips of his toes met the ground as a hand lifted to knock on the door. His first knock went unanswered, followed by a second and a third.</p><p>A tired voice from inside carried its way to Kayn's ears. "Please, come back later I'm quite tied up at-"</p><p>"I'm back" Though it was still audible, Kayn was surprised at the nervousness in his tone. Jarvan had not replied still, and fear in the man began to build until the door opened and he was met with his husband's gaze. The circles under his eyes seemed to have grown, and there was stress and sadness painted on him. And Kayn... he stood, shirtless, hair floating while mostly obeying gravity, as he stood an inch or two taller than Jarvan now. </p><p>A shaky breath snapped his gaze back, and their eyes locked. Exhausted searching framed with pale shock was met with pride and fear. Jarvan moved, beckoning him inside, never letting his eyes off Kayn, as if if he did even once, the man before him would be gone again. Door closed, they were alone inside, and Jarvan's tentative hand came to reach for Kayn's upper arm. Watching his eyes widen as their skin met, he watched Jarvan gasp as tears began to fall and Kayn hardly dared to breathe as they both moved closer, as that same hand came to cup his cheek while the taller's hands grabbed at the clothes on his upper arms and the pull closer and all was intoxicatingly familiar yet scary and new as if they were younger and trying to meet for the first time, but there was so much joy and pain and sadness they'd shared but nothing else mattered right now except them.</p><p>Cutting the mutual silence just once, Kayn's soft tone wasn't entirely successful enough to not come across as pleading. "May I?" And when a moment's hesitation and a flicker downward of a gaze and the immediate reddening of cheeks were followed by one curt nod, Kayn wasted no time in softly meeting lips in a timeless familiarity though he was standing above the other man except several inches below. The kiss was long, breaking off at points to stare and breathe before tipping in again, feeling one another, and it felt like years until Kayn's hands gripped at Jarvan's shirt and he was huffing against his lips and pulling him closer and closer but not going farther because he wanted to, he wanted to but couldn't because there was so much unsaid so he kissed Jarvan instead with a ferocity that was met by tears and fire.</p><p>Tugging was soon followed by something sad and scared, where both their arms were tugging or perhaps pushing away or maybe both and Jarvan was feeling at his right arm that was an arm again and attempting to avoid looking at Kayn's chest, eventually pulling away, his tears staining both of their faces and it wasn't until he did that Kayn realized he was crying too, with a gentle warmth streaming towards the ground. The scar above his left eye remained as only a trace of what had been scarred and uneven tissue, and both his eyes looked clearly at Jarvan, Kayn's interface long gone. The emperor stood within arm's reach, looking at Kayn and crying until he maybe was thinking less than he should be and wrapped around the only man in the universe who mattered right now. They cried together, holding each other tight and breathing. </p><p>Voice cracking and barely audible, Jarvan mumbled into Kayn's shoulder with pain. Too much pain and fear and sadness and loneliness that he had wrought. "You're here."<br/>
"I am, I'm here and so are you, you're here and alive." The bubbling surprised him but an image was not anything he'd ever need to care for around his husband, around the one he swore his life to and abandoned and, "I'm so sorry for leaving you."</p><p>"Worried you were dead until people started dying a-and I couldn't reach you and you were g-gone and I had to watch from afar and I was afraid, afraid of you and maybe you a-are here to kill me but at least you're here." Sobbing into Kayn's shoulder, Jarvan took a single breath. "And I was scared, scared I was never going to see y-you again and that Rhaast would win and that you'd forgotten everything and you were gone and..." Quieting by tenfold, the man finished, "please don't leave me again."</p><p>Kayn didn't reply immediately, stunned by the words that had flown free after time of separation. Rubbing a soothing hand on Jarvan's back, the other cradling his head, his response stumbled and caught, but held in the air like they should. "I'm sorry for leaving and I'm sorry for scaring you, but I won, I won and he's gone." A glint stole Kayn's eye, if only for a moment 'til his demeanor fell back into what he was, just someone scared of what he'd done, become, and lost. "I... fell under his influence for a time, yes. A time I regret as it was what pulled me away from you and for that I am sorry. By then it was too far down the path to return and I..."</p><p>The silence clung until he finished, the only other sounds were sniffles from their tears. </p><p>"I don't like being alone, without you. You don't need to give me an answer now, but if you haven't sought a new companion, I... would you please be mine again?"</p><p>His lips were soon taken into another gentle kiss, this one at Jarvan's lead. It was soft, barely pressing, but held them both in that trance. After, the emperor leaned forward to kiss away Kayn's tears, touch still faint and delicate. His eyes found Kayn's again, and though still teary, they lost the fear in them, though still sad, tired, and a tad off guard, as finding an old friend in an unexpected place. When one sticks their hand into a flame and does not get burned. He didn't speak right away, but when he did it was gentle. </p><p>"I did promise my life and self to you, did I not? It's not... we need to talk. About a lot. But I have not remarried, though I have been pursued by some. I don't want a political marriage, just..." Sighing, his hand stroked over Kayn's cheekbone. "At least you're alive, we can always go from there."</p>
<hr/><p>Giggling, Jarvan continued running his hands through the shifting purple and blue locks. "Maybe I'll try extra hard at this just so I can pet you." Kissing Kayn's cheek, his smile was gentle. "Come on, you know you like it."</p><p>A huff from Kayn gave him all the satisfaction he needed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>wasteland, baby! by hozier, bass boosted</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Cat. Oh, and Family, too.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kayn's cat still doesn't have a name. Family loves him or some sappy shit.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Walking down the hall, now borrowing one of Jarvan's shirts, which he had insisted on for some reason, Kayn was staring at the carrier under his arm. Jarvan had cared for their cat in his absence, and he was doing well, besides a bit more age on him. He still didn't know Kayn was here, and he was honestly... worried that he wouldn't recognize him. It's lame, but, the atmosphere just felt... different. It would take time to have his place back, and even then it'd be tainted. Not tainted, different. There's no shame in that, right? No, there is some shame, though it doesn't have to stick around. Learning a lesson. Reconnecting. He doesn't have to be alone, at least that's what Jarvan kept saying, and it sounds pretty nice to try to believe. So Kayn's trying to.</p><p>Right now, the mostly black tuxedo was asleep, and Kayn was trying to keep him that way, for a bit. Having him yowling everyone's heads off at three in the morning would ...  be less than ideal in every circumstance, in fact. Entering his quarters, which were not far from his husband's, he was met with two realizations. First, barely anything had changed from when he'd fled, and second, that they were still his and hadn't been reassigned to another Ordinal. That Jarvan had waited, hoped. That realization made his chest burn a bit, constricting in guilt. But he took a breath. Steadied himself. And set down the carrier on his bed, peering inside. To his surprise — <em>was he really that surprised?</em> — his eyes were met with amber. A blur of dark movement later, and there was purring filling the room as his cat rubbed his cheek on Kayn, anywhere he could reach. Hands reaching down, the man felt his eyes well with tears. </p><p>
  <em>I am still me.</em>
</p><p>Sure, he shouldn't be giving the cat this many treats normally, but this is a special occasion. Sighing, he fell asleep under navy covers, a sandpaper tongue lapping lovingly at his cheek.</p><hr/><p>Akali had agreed to meet him for lunch. Bouncing on his heels outside the agreed upon Armada restaurant, one with Akali's favourite ramen, he wasn't as worried about this reunion. Their relationship had always been casual and, yeah, sure, while five years is a long time to have disappeared, Kayn wasn't expecting this to be the sorrowful kind of reunion, be it a tad awkward and nerve wracking, as reunions tend to be. Lucky for his tear ducts, he was proven correct within minutes.</p><p>Showing up in her casual uniform with a smirk, with nothing more than a shadow of concern in her eyes. That smirk quickly faded into a frown as his sister looked up at him, squinting into his eyes. "It's nice seeing you again but you took leg day to the vertical level and that ain't poggers."</p><p>Smirking back at her, Kayn shrugged. "Not my fault you're tiny." This earned him a light kick in the ribcage. Even so, it was lucky the uniform he was in contained padding. Akali kicked hard. "I missed you."</p><p>"I... I missed you, too." Okay maybe a lot of five year reunions in which one's absence they beat a god and are transformed into a new body and commit several major felonies are going to be emotional. "Dude, you fucking scared us. All of us. A lot of the Empire, too. You're going to... have a time gaining any real respect back. I don't think you'd be allowed back, except for the fact that your husband's the fucking emperor. Be careful, alright?" By now, Akali was looking up at his face, as close as she could do without looking up at his chin, and ended with a sigh. "You're a fucking idiot but you're lucky and capable. Congrats on killing a god or whatever the hell happened, Jarvan was kinda rambling when he called."</p><p>"Jarvan called before I did?" He hadn't yet... processed much of what she'd said, but it had bubbled over immediately. It was important to her that he knew. She wasn't one to go ham on the emotional vulnerability train.</p><p>Nodding, she walked with him to their table. "He didn't want anyone to scare you off. Not that shit like that occurs to you on the first go, but just, don't mention to him I told you, thanks. Now are you getting your boring usual or do you want me to show you something cool."</p><p>"Thank you..." Smirking again, he met her eyes with their playful light. "I doubt you could make my mouth burn if you tried."</p><p>"It's on, bitch."</p><hr/><p>He hadn't expected Xin Zhao to reach out like this. Sure, he was nice, and they'd gotten along well, but they hadn't ever... talked extensively. Rarely seeking each other out. Jarvan's father was a good man, focused on work, and had been one of Kayn's mentors when he was younger, still going through Ordinal training. Still, they never talked without specifying what for, except now they didn't need to. They both were clear without stating it.</p><p>A knock on Xin's door was met with a prompt opening. "Would you like to talk over tea?" They usually had, before he'd left. Even now, standing here in the appropriate seconds before replying, Kayn felt searching eyes on him, but not unkindness. Guilt, much like his own. "You may choose the flavour, I have little preference."</p><p>"Sounds lovely, d- <em>sir</em>, and may I suggest a lavender blend, if you have one on hand?" Lavender was safe, it was calm, and it was forgiving. The man in front of him had every right to yell, to be angry, to tell him to leave for abandoning his son for five years, yet he smiled softly and welcomed him into his quarters for tea. Maybe he could try to find the same emotions. Probably not. He was the one who made mistakes, caused years of hurt and grief, unlike Xin. </p><p>Nodding, he walked with Kayn, sitting down opposite each other as he placed the appropriate bundle into pre-boiled water. They sat in silence for a few long minutes, trading long gazes, watching, discerning the atmosphere, until the older man eventually broke it. "You shouldn't have left, and I know you know that, it's obligatory for me to state it nonetheless. You did a lot of stupid things."</p><p>"Shitty choices have often been my forte." He offered a small grin before sobering himself again. "I'm sorry for the weight I've caused and the lack of adequate public performance and the absence in my duties." </p><p>Letting out a small laugh, Xin shook his head. "Stop using those fancy words, I don't appreciate the vulgar language, but, ah, I've grown accepting of your personal preference for the habit. You left. Some things can't be fixed but I don't think your close circle wants to be one of those." He paused to pour them each a cup of the tea, which Kayn lifted to his lips, allowing the man to continue.</p><p>"Just... be gentle with my son. If something like this happens again, I will not be granting you the same grace."</p><hr/><p>Deep into their third cup, Xin looked up at him. Switching the topic of conversation from legal logistics abruptly, he held eye contact with Kayn. "You're part of the family, you have been, and you always will be. Remember that you belong here, you can trust us, we have your back."</p><p>"Thank you, sir." </p><p>Shaking his head, the older man smiled. "It's 'dad.'"</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>family by mother mother starts playing from underwater.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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